Longtime Hilo restaurant staple Sombat’s Fresh Thai Cuisine has officially closed its doors for good after 20 years.
Sombat Saenguthai started preparing traditional Thai meals for her family of 14 when she was 7 while living in the small rural village of Buriram, Thailand. Her love of cooking never wavered, even after moving to the U.S. in 1994 and then to Hilo in 1997.
In 2003, Saenguthai decided to bring her cooking to the people of Hawaii Island when she opened a restaurant that she named after herself at the corner of Kuawa Street and Kanoelehua Avenue.
Since then, Sombat’s Fresh Thai Cuisine remained on that corner in the Waiakea Kai Shopping Plaza, where Saenguthai fed and built relationships with countless people in the community.
It was a heartbreaking and tough choice to make when Saenguthai, 53, decided to officially close her restaurant on Friday, Dec. 22, due to her worsening health issues involving one 0f her legs.
“It is so hard to do this. This place means everything to me, and I hate to let go. I started this place from scratch, I have good customers, my kids grew up here, and I watched a lot of kids in Hilo grow up here,” Saenguthai said. “After I made it through COVID, I said I would retire in 10 more years. I wanted to work and resigned the lease, but then I fell.”
While the physical pain wasn’t too bad at first, her leg did not heal and work became tougher each day. After visiting doctors in Hilo and Thailand, Saenguthai was told that surgery was not an option and she would have to live with pain medication.
She hoped that her body would heal over time, and she continued to work for a year and half. However, her condition only got worse and more painful. It was time to sell the business.
Although she thought about passing the restaurant on to family, Saenguthai realized that there wasn’t anyone passionate enough to take over.
“If you don’t want it, then I didn’t want that. I am willing to teach someone, but that’s difficult. You have to love it,” Saenguthai said. “Food means everything to me. It’s my medicine. I’m proud of how far I’ve come and everything I’ve done, so I’m glad to leave things there.”
Saenguthai said she sold the business and her equipment to another Thai restaurant that will have a different name and different recipes.
“(The space) is small, but cute. It has seen so many customers through the years. Some who were here on my first day and on my last day,” Saenguthai said. “It’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years, because to me, it feels like yesterday. I enjoyed coming here every day, and life without the restaurant for a couple days has already been hard.”
When restaurants converted to takeout-only models during the COVID-19 pandemic, Saenguthai’s business took a hit, which caused her to have to lay off employees and take on more of the workload herself.
In the three years since the start of the pandemic, Sombat’s did not reopen for dine-in service, as Saenguthai could not afford to open the restaurant for more hours or hire more employees.
“I never minded the work until I got hurt. I already miss seeing everyone,” Saenguthai said. “I’m so thankful to be in Hilo and for the customers I’ve had. They helped me support my staff, my children and myself. They helped me get my kids to school.”
While she still has family in Thailand, Saenguthai has made Hilo her home and has no plans to leave while she focuses on her health.
“I love the people in Hilo and I’m thankful for them. They helped me do so much over and gave me the chance to do what I love for a long time,” Saenguthai said. “Hilo is my home, so I will be around, just not selling food.”
The restaurant has closed, but Saenguthai is not closing her business entirely. Although taking a long pause to focus on healing, she plans to sell her delicious and unique Thai sauces again in the future.
Through the years, people have asked Saenguthai for cooking and recipe advice, which she has given willingly, even listing her recipes on her website. In her eyes, good food doesn’t have much to do with the skill of the cook, but with the type of energy they put into their meals.
“Cooking is personal to me. You have to put a lot of love and a lot of good energy into the food. Love is all you need to make something good,” Saenguthai said. “I’m from another country and made a living here because I believe if you find who you are and do what you love, you will be successful.”
Saenguthai had no idea how successful Sombat’s Fresh Thai Cuisine would be when she started her journey and had no idea how it would end. She credits her success to being authentic through it all and loving what she did every day.
“No one knows what will change on the road, but everything that happens, good and bad, are learning lessons. I had to accept this, even if I didn’t want to,” Saenguthai said. “The best thing I can say to anyone, young or old, is that success comes
when you do what you love
and do it with your heart every time.”
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com
